Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1887-04-20
DEAD MANS CANON.
It was g. warm day in March.

It was warm day in March.
Charles Loften took car and rode
out to the end OF the line, then he
walked on for some distance and
turned up the hill to the left and took
the road which leads down through
Dead Mans Canon.
As he walked down the rough road
he noticed q little child playing
around apple OF wood which her faith
er had been chopping.
Farther down he saw two girls at q
spring, and as the younger drank
from g. tin pail she said to her sister,
swhat splendid water this ISL
Two men drawing stone left them
horses and went to the girls for a
drink
Some negroes were laughing and
talking around q rough house on the
side OF the bluff.
All these things Loften noticed as
he walked, and he also noticed two
men, evidently tramps, who sat on q
stone IN q lonely part OF the canon
talking IN low tones, which ceased en-
tirely as he came nearer.
Loften went out through the canon
and crossed the tracks to the brewery
where he was going to look at some
new machinery.
After he had examined the machine
he went up on the roof OF the building,
from which there was an excellent
view CT the valley
He watched the river winding way
past cultivated lands and patches of
forests, past sandy fats and rocky
bluffs He noticed the tall syca-
mores, with their white bark, scat
tered over the valley. In the dis
lance he could see the piled-up stone
and the tall masts of the derricks for
moving it where 8 great bridge was
being built, and near by the cluster of
houses covered with tar paper, where
the workmen lived. On the outside
was the city with it's towers and
chimneys, and over al the dark
cloud of smoke curling upward. And
then there was the river again, and
more fats and more bluffs and more
cultivated land, forest and white
barked sycamores.
Loiten went down and started for
home. As he went up the canon the
men still sat on the stone whispering
together, and again stopped when he
came near.
1t was growing dark. The men who
had been drawing stone had left their
wagon by the road and gone for the
night. He met one old negro carrying
pail Of water. There was no talk
No before the house. now. The spring
was deserted, and the water ran
quietly down the hill. The little girl
and the man who had been chopplng
wood were gone too.
Near the head OF the canon Loften
met we'll dressed man going down.
They nodded as they passed and said
something about the bad walking.
Loften noticed that black clouds
were gathering, and when he reached
the top of the : bluff it had become
quite dark. He took car and went
home, and as he went into his house
he heard the roar of distant thunder.
As the flashes OF lightning for
second illumined the lower end OF the
Dead Mans Canon d well dressed man
Law in the road near the rock where
the two tramps had been whispering
together-but the tramps were gone.
1t was still moonlight when the
quarry men started for their work.
The storm had gone by and the sky
was bright with stars.
As they entered the canon the pal
ing fthe moon indicated that the sun
would soon be up and the sky was al
ready growing red in the east. A light
mist foated among the tops of the
sycamore trees on the flats.
Suddenly the men stopped.
Right before them on the road lay
man. His clothes were soaked by
the rain, which had fallen in torrents,
and his white collar and cuffs were
soiled with mud. His head was
covered with mud and blood, and an
ugly cash in his throat showed
how ne had died.
One OF the men at once started for
the town to notify the authorities.
The coroner came and took charge
OF the body, and men we're set at
work to try and discover the murder
er.
Inquiry at the brewery brought out
the fact that a. strange man had been
seen there late the previous after
noon, and old negro testified to
having seen him going up the canon
A conductor on one of the cars said q
man answering the description given
by the men at the brewery and the
old negro had ridden on his car. A
grocer's man who happened to be
driving by had seen this man and
identified him as Loften.